Understanding Tarot: The Lovers

Tarot card art from the Rider-Waite Smith Tarot Deck

This article is written by Tarot Reader, Claire Chilvers. You can find out more about her insights and readings at @ClaireChilversTarot

The Lovers: Choosing for the Highest Good

The Lovers is a card that is often misunderstood, possibly because the two naked people on the card distract us from the deeper message that lies within. But, I guess that is the trouble with humans – we can get distracted so easily by the sight of naked flesh!

I’ve written that as a joke, but, of course, being human is no joke at the moment. For many of us, this year has taken an unexpected and frightening turn and not quite gone how we imagined.

I, like many of my spiritual friends, was eagerly awaiting 2020 – the year that promised to elevate us to higher consciousness.

I naively thought that it would be delivered by the Universe as a key to unlock the next wonderful part of my life’s journey, gift -wrapped with a tag saying “well done on all your self-development”. Much like the beautiful scene shown in the Lovers card of an abundant garden with an Angel descending, giving clear messages of love and support.

But, the world that I knew in 2019 has changed so much in the last few months.

No, 2020 has not quite played out how I imagined so far…

I am looking at The Lovers card now, (as it is the next card in the series of articles that I am writing about), and it has occurred to me, that this is the point that we are all at right now.

The Lovers’ deeper message is about choice, which may seem ludicrous at the moment when many of us have fewer choices in our daily routines, and our choices seem so limited as we are worried about our health, our loved ones, our finances, jobs, children’s education, lack of basic supplies, etc.

As we lurch from one emotion to another, trying to make sense of the world, torn between our head and heart, finding ourselves deliberating difficult choices, we are all playing out the very essence of The Lover’s Card, and seeing this card during this very difficult time is comforting for me, which I will explain.

Take a look at the card, and imagine yourself as the lady in this picture (who is often depicted as Eve). She is looking up at the Angel, listening to his message – aware of its importance.

The man beside her looks at her lovingly, but she is not as interested in him, her mind is elsewhere, despite the fact that their bodies are so close.

To her left is a snake, whispering in her ear, again, this snake is wrapped around the apple tree – perhaps enticing Eve to turn her attention to her own needs and wants and to eat the delicious fruit (we all know how that story ends!)

Sometimes our minds are so full of trying to live a more spiritual life or listening to the whisperings of others, that we do not live in the present moment and appreciate what we have around us.

The loved ones and the things we take for granted are now suddenly being thrown into jeopardy. The people we never have the time to see are suddenly unable to be seen as they are locked away.

In a strange sort of way, our global crisis has made us realise who we love on earth and what we value in it.

Suddenly, our hearts are being given the opportunity to make the choices that perhaps they wouldn’t have done if we had carried on scurrying through our very busy, important lives.

And what about our minds? This too has a choice, and for many, the “snake” and the endless whispering of panic and anxiety are certainly taking our attention away from the messages of the Universe and the higher good.

As much as I am aware that we should remain grounded, it is becoming difficult to do so.

Just today, in the UK, we were advised schools were shutting for the foreseeable future. As a parent, it is difficult for me to suddenly put my anxieties to one side and meditate – but, right now, it is probably the best thing that I could do, the best thing that we could all do and listen to the messages that are trying to get through.

As I said earlier, 2020 is giving us the opportunity to raise our vibration to a new level. Well, it certainly has our attention now, doesn’t it?

It feels as if everyone in the world is thinking about the same things – the changes in the environment, the changes in how we are having to live, and the fact that communities now need to drastically change to survive and thrive together.

Don’t get me wrong – I don’t think anyone would have wished for this level of uncertainty and devastation, but, we all now have a choice of how we wish to act.

And, once again, The Lovers card brings us the answer.

Love is the answer. In the spiritual world, everything comes back to love. If you can choose that over any other emotion, then it will be for the higher good, that is the message of this card.

Love of the planet, love of your small part of the world and the community you live in, love of the people you are having to be isolated with, or the people who you have to be apart from. Love of nature and the natural resources we have left, and most importantly love of yourself.

It isn’t going to be easy. People are poorly, grieving, hungry, and scared at the moment, and although love won’t cure any of these directly, it will help. It always does.

These are turbulent times ahead, but, for whatever reason, every one of our souls chose to come back to play our part at this unprecedented time.

We are all here for a reason. Let us take the message of choice from this card and see that no matter how dire our circumstances are we always have a choice.

Let us choose the right path and collectively accept the offerings of 2020, however difficult they might be, to raise our vibrations to a higher level with love in our hearts, not fear.

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About the author

Claire Chilvers

Claire Chilvers is a writer and tarot reader and lives in Essex, UK. She offers tarot readings to clients in the UK and around the world via video calls (Skype usually), if you would like a reading please contact her at clairechilverstarot@yahoo.com.